The evening is a-shiver with cicadas when you knock on the woodcutter's door. The planks—from an alder that shaded your grandma's house when you were little—muffle his response. "Moment—fuck!" Something heavy topples over inside.
You take in the familiarity of this porch. The lavender, the crunch of sawdust underfoot, the memory of every crease in every timber—the knowing how each would feel under your hand. In the windowsill sits a charm of woven daisies. You dried and pleated them many summers ago. Did the woodcutter keep your charm there on purpose, or has he become so used to its presence that he forgot it came from you?
He opens the door. "What? Oh it's... What is the matter?"
"Hey. I was thinking— wait, you're about to leave?"
Behind him, the rushlights are snuffed and the fireplace sits cold. A pack leans against the bed, stacked with a blanket and two linen-wrapped parcels. They're the exact size and shape of breads. He's in his yellow cloak and bycocket. His axe hangs from a loop on his belt.
"I'm off to fell a willow-tree."
"Alone, at night, with supplies to sleep in the forest?"
His shoulders drop and he yanks his hat from his hair. "Come in." You follow into the dark house. He pulls out a chair and sits on the bed himself.
"We started a new coppice in spring, out by the gulch where the Ronning cuts through the mountains. Good birch for earthworks and for the fire, and young willows we could pollard too. But two days in we found Aelle sitting under one of those willows—an older one—and he wouldn't get up. I thought he was lazing first, and made a joke. Then I got annoyed. But Aelle just made up different excuses to stay on his rear. It started to get… weird. Like he wasn't himself. Then Sunigold got involved and tried to muscle him to his feet—ribbing and playfighting in that manner the two of them have lately. But as soon as she was under the bower she turned to me and— Actually I'm tired too, she says. Maybe we should take a nap ere we turn homewards. I had to joust them out from under the boughs with a log we'd felled earlier."
"So there's an enspelled tree somewhere in the wood. Why go back there now, at night?"
"We were a team of three. Had we been any fewer that day, the one or two who went out might have starved or parched to death before the others found them. If they didn't freeze in the night, that is."
"But that was all the way back in spring, and the three of you are still around. I'm guessing you agreed never to go back, and the tree didn't bother you since. That about how it went?"
"Aelle went back today, dunce that he is. But it's good that he did, because now we know that there's a bunch of corpsewalkers out there. He thinks the tree's been killing people."
"And now you're going to gamble your hide that you'll fare better?"
"Me and Suni. Aelle's too badly shaken."
A shiver creeps across your shoulders. An awkward evening was meant to be the worst that could come out of visiting this house, but now the stakes are fathoms higher. If you cannot keep him here tonight, the man whom you once loved will die. But you never will; he's too proud to listen to you in any matter these days. No matter what you try, it will end with him walking out of the door to his death.
"Stay for an hour," you plead as you get up. "Just an hour. I'll be back, and ready to come with you."
"I'll just have someone else to worry about. What help are a weaver's hands against this?"
You halt in the doorway. "Two sword-knaves are staying at the inn. They're friends, I'll bring them along. As for what I myself can benefit this venture… you have no idea what I've been up to."
The Situation
On the edge of a cliff that overlooks the Ronning tributary stands an ancient willow-tree. Its low, broad stem splays into slender branches that hang heavy with tresses of foliage. They curtain off most of the base, so that to sit under its bower is to imagine oneself in the pavilion of a lord on the hunt. Cool, sun-dappled; there is an enchanted kind of peace there.
The willow was the home of MORIEN THE DRYAD, a spirit-guardian of the wood, who tended it with more love than any other plant in her garden. Her life was bound to this willow, as all dryads are bound to the tree they are born from. Though she could not leave this cliffside with her heart still beating, she was content.
That changed when AREFLED THE CHARCOAL BURNER chanced upon her grove in winter. Turned around by a snowstorm, Arefled sought shelter in a hole between the willow's roots. She would not have survived 'till morrow had Morien not saved her. The dryad climbed down from her bed between the highest branches and wrapped Arefled in a tapestry that once a wandering knight had left for her. She'd hated that knight, and always hid when he came to seek her favor, but now his gift found a use. For three days she fed the charcoal burner roots and starlings with their necks twisted, until the snows cleared enough for her to find the way home. In those three days Arefled told Morien stories of the outside world—of merchantfolk and village feasts, of market day in Tragaso—and made the dryad rue that she would never see these things herself.
Already this was enough to make the willow hate Arefled, but she did much worse thereafter.
Charcoal burners, for the stinking nature of their work, live beyond the edge of town. In those outskirts, when they tend their fires at night, many strange visitors come knocking. One such visitor was a devil, and after a night of verbal jousting they offered Arefled a gamble. A game of dice, the stake: her soul. The reward should she win: hers to define.
So Arefled returned in spring to the willow on the cliff. There she whispered a dark proposal into the dryad's ear. She would slay her, and bring her back to life with a rite learned from the devil. Once undead, Morien could not be stayed by a heart that stopped its beating. She would be free.
With knife and incantation they did as Arefled proposed. Though the magic was terrible and vile, it did no more or less than they meant for it to do. Wherever Morien now dwells, she chose to go there, and is thankful for it. The willow only saw a human kill the most important person in the world, then raise her as a thing antithetical to life. Even had either Morien or Arefled explained their good intentions, the tree may not have cared; its pain and its yearning grew so large they swallowed its entire world. But Morien was too taken with her freedom to delay her adventure another minute, and Arefled didn't know there was someone to explain things to. She didn't know that trees can yearn. She didn't know that trees can hate.
This tree could do both, and it had enough magic to act on that grudge. Never again would it let another soul leave its grove. Especially not if they were human; they would stay as payment for what their folk had taken from the tree, until they had paid with their life. And even then it never be enough.
Later that spring, the village woodcutters found the willow's grove and started cutting down the birch-trees. Two of them, AELLE and SUNIGOLD, fell under the willow's enchantment and refused to leave its shade. They only survived because the third, ILDEFONS, kept his mind and forced them away from the tree. They swore never to return.
Just now, Aelle's curiosity drew him back to the willow anyway. There he spotted a number of undead! Had they died of starvation? Had the same evil power that lay over the willow brought their corpses back to unlife? He knows nothing about Arefled's ritual, so he doesn't understand that it was in fact the residual necromancy from that spell that made the corpsewalkers. All the willow did was kill them.
Aelle returns to warn Ildefons and Sunigold. At the same time, at the other edge of the village, Arefled's hut falls under siege.
Starting the Adventure
Rope the players into facing the tree by having one or more of them discover a personal stake in dealing with it. The more players you involve, the better. You could use one or more of the options below.
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A player discovers that Ildefons the woodcutter can provide information or services they need, but he's too preoccupied with cutting down the willow after Aelle discovered undead nearby.
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If you're starting this adventure with new characters, have Ildefons be someone they care about. Otherwise, replace him with an NPC they're emotionally connected to.
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Use one of the previous options, but have the relevant NPC be Arefled. Her house was just attacked by corpsewalkers—once a group of river merchants—who moaned that she should set right what she did to the willow. She'll tell the players about her encounter with Morien the dryad, but won't readily admit to the necromancy she practiced or even mention that she set the dryad free. Players can sense that something is amiss, of course, and push for answers. In any case, she'll ask that they deal with the tree. If you want a hot start to your adventure, use the Optional Encounter - Save Arefled! described below.
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Someone the players care about has disappeared! They were last seen traveling along the Ronning river as it cut through the woods. Searching for them will lead the players to the tree, where they sit under its bower and refuse to leave.
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A player with particular animosity towards the undead learns that there is necromantic activity happening in the woods. They could learn this from Ildefons, from his colleague Aelle, from a vision, or supernatural senses.
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A player with affinity for nature dreams that they are a tree, and that they're suffering from an elusive kind of anguish. Supernatural senses tell them the approximate direction to the tree, should they wish to relieve its suffering.
Whatever you do, I recommend that you have Ildefons or another NPC interested in felling the tree go with the players; unless they are already unanimous about their intent to solve this through violence. Opinionated NPCs can heighten the drama during the final confrontation. Also make sure that the players at least know of Arefled's existence, as this will make it more impactful if they ever find out what she's done.
Optional Encounter - Save Arefled!
Heads lift as cries echo off the trees. Chandlers, farmers, and woodcutters prick their ears; are these the cries of two youngsters at play, or something worth worrying about? Then a word cleaves crystal through the air: "Help!"
You find the charcoal burner on a game trail that bisects the hedgerow between her furnace and the town. She has her back to an old ruin, and two wolves biting at her ankles. One lunges—she drives it back with her shovel.
Arefled the charcoal burner (A) is a Noncombatant being menaced by:
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2 large wolves (W) represented by the Predator A stat block with Size 1M and the Swiftness / Grappler / Pouncer traits. They try to grab her and pull her across the north edge of the map. If they succeed, she will disappear into the woods and be impossible to find.
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1 Umbral Stalker. It hides at the side of the road to intercept any players that come to her rescue.
The players start in the staging ground (P) at the south end of the map. All trees are difficult terrain, but the wolves ignore it.
As soon as the first PC reaches Arefled or the first enemy dies, 3 Zombies will appear on (P) and impede their escape. They mutter accusations.
Come back to the willow, smoke-woman. Make right what you have wrought!
The battle ends when one of the following conditions is met:
Victory Conditions:
- All the enemies are dead.
- The players cross the south edge of the map with Arefled.
Loss Condition:
- Arefled crosses the north edge of the map while dragged by an enemy.
On a victory, award the players 1 victory. They will probably have questions, which you can play on using the information in Starting the Adventure.
Here is a blank battlemap to put in front of the players:
Researching the Willow
Whenever the players try to learn more about the willow, you may reward good rolls or clever approaches with one or more snippets of information below. The players may use these to piece together parts of the reason why the willow is the way it is.
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When trees become able to think, that is usually because a dryad was born from one of them.
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Dryads are bound to the tree they were born from. If they get too far away, their hearts stop.
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Arefled once got lost in the woods during winter. When she came back, half-frozen to death, she told those that took care of her that she had met a dryad.
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Accidentally created undead sometimes become obsessed with the last thought on their mind before they died. All these corpsewalkers seem to be looking for someone who was taken away?
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The dead also seem fixated on a villager who smells like smoke. What did they do?!
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When a particularly vile act of necromancy is performed, any creature that dies near the site of the ritual afterwards may come back as an undead.
Journey into the Woods
Once the players encounter the willow, they will have the choice to destroy it or to make peace with it. We want to complicate the straightforward mission briefing 'destroy bad tree' before they arrive. The conflict won't land otherwise, but meeting an NPC in the forest who is interested in protecting the tree might feel contrived. The conflict is stronger if it's internal to the player characters. To stimulate that internal struggle, we will ask the players a few questions as they travel through the woods.
The questions help the Director and the players co-create a culture in which the act of felling this tree is morally fraught. Because the players helped come up with it, they will feel immersed enough in this worldview to roleplay their characters as if it's something they believed all along! Each question goes to one of your players. If you have too many questions, either ask some players twice or pick only the questions you find most interesting!
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You pass a coppice of pollard willows. Their bulbous heads pincushion with young branches. - Where you come from, folk sometimes wear willow shoots in their hair. What does this ritual signify?
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You follow the river Ronning, since the willow is supposedly on a cliff overlooking one of its valleys. On a sopping bank dotted with decapitated trees you hop from stump to stump to keep the grass from soaking your shoes. Some sickness has gotten into the felled trees, and flies feast on the wood as if they're carcasses. - What disease often befell woodcutters in your hometown, which rumormongers said to be a punishment for taking too much?
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The river makes a deep berth where its banks trade saplings and thin birches for older trees. These trees are older than the kingdom, and older still is the silence that hangs between them. - Do you think this forest approves of you? Why?
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Your foot kicks something out from under the fallen leaves and it rolls down a hill. A hart's hipbone. You'll see more death before the day is out. - What's the local custom for laying to rest a corpse that was made undead?
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The path of least resistance takes you into a gully choked with dried yellow leaves. There are no living trees here; only charred columnns that don't support anything, but end in sharp points like stalagmites. A forest fire. - You know a story about a girl who set a tree on fire. Why did she do it, and how did it lead to her terrible end?
After you've asked these questions, there might be a good moment to let the players roleplay amongst themselves. You could say something in the vein of: "You travel for a while," and either see if they fill the space you leave. Once your sense of pacing tells you to start steering the story again, move on with the Humming Corpsewalker encounter.
Humming Corpsewalker
The undead corpse of a highwayman stands propped up in a clearing. Devoid of soul, its synapses still hum a tune that it knew in life. If the players approach, it will mumble the thought that was on its mind when it died of thirst under the willow's crown—a though implanted by the tree.
"She smelled of the burning of our dead... Should have known she would bring loss."
This creature is no significant threat; do not roll initiative if the players interact with it. At worst it might swipe one of them for 5-7 damage if they fail a power roll or approach carelessly. Should they somehow manage to capture and / or inspect it, they may learn a thing or two from the 'Researching the Willow' list.
The presence of this creature means that the players must be close to the tree, but there's one final obstacle before they get to it.
Montage - Passing the Enchanted Thicket
The players can tell by the shape of the terrain that there's a cliff nearby, and the woodcutter NPCs know that the tree is close if they've joined on this journey. To get to the cliff, however, they will have to go through an incredibly dense thicket. Doing so requires a montage test of moderate difficulty.
Initial Challenges
The players initially face the following challenges as part of the montage test.
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Brambles coil around legs and bite into calves. There's more of them with every step, so hacking at them or pulling them loose before moving on slows the players down immensely.
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The foliage is so dense that they players can't see more than a few feet ahead of them. Combined with all the weaving between obstacles they have to do, this makes it hard to tell if they're still going the right way.
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In some places, the leaf litter is so deep that they sink into it to their knees. It makes the experience less like walking, and more like wading through mud.
Additional Challenges
During the montage, you may introduce the following new challenges.
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Old oaks groan threateningly, almost like a hound trying to ward off intruders. They drop branches on the players as they pass under them.
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Ants and beetles wriggle out of the topsoil. They flutter to faces and try to crawl into the players' eyes and nose and ears.
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A stream cuts a gully through the thicket. It's narrow but deep and banked by slippery rocks—so that simply hopping across is risky.
Total Success
On a total success, the players arrive unscathed at the other end of the thicket. Large oaks grow on the lower part of the hill, but the final stretch between the players and the willow on the cliff-edge is almost completely open. The birch-trees that grew here have been cut away. The players are able to observe the scene from cover behind the oaks, and to plan their approach before they make a move.
In addition, the players gain a victory.
Partial Success or Failure
On a partial success, the players choose two of the consequences below. On a failure, they choose three.
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All players lose one recovery.
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All players are extremely tired and take a third of their maximum stamina in damage.
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The party gets lost in the thicket for hours, and night has fallen by the time they reach the willow. The confrontation will take place in near-total darkness.
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The party doesn't get to take cover behind the oaks to plan their approach, but stumbles into the clearing unexpectedly. They start the confrontation surprised by the willow and its attendants.
World States
When the players emerge onto the willow's precipice, their group composition and previous choices may trigger certain information or events.
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If Ildefons or another woodcutter is with the party, they will charge the willow with torch and hatchet as soon as combat start.
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If a human is with the party, their magic-senses tell them that a grave act of necromancy was committed here. Not just the bodies of those who die here returning as corpsewalkers, but something more fundamental.
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If Arefled is with the party, the willow will accuse her. "Ask that one—ask her what she did!"
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Arefled is automatically here if she was abducted. She sits bloodied near an edge of the cliff and makes the occasional shovel-swing at a wolf to keep the beast at bay.
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If the tree has captured someone the players care about, that person is Morien's Effigy in the encounter described below.
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The players automatically spot a tapestry hanging from one of the willow's branches. If they get close, they can see the words For Morien embroidered on the hem. Anyone local to the village recognizes this as the name of a 'woman made of wood' that passed through a few months ago.
Confronting the Willow
Whether the players rush out of cover with their weapons drawn, stumble unknowingly into the clearing, or come out of hiding to sue for peace, the willow and its attendants will attack. The ensuing combat has the following victory and loss conditions:
Victory Conditions
- Morien's Willow dies.
- The willow's Interest reaches 2 or 3 during Aggressive Negotiations (see below), and the players accept its offer.
- The willow's Interest reaches 4 or 5 during Aggressive Negotiations.
Loss Conditions
- Arefled is present and dies.
- Two player-characters are dying at the same time.
- The willow's Patience reaches 0 during Aggressive Negotiations while its Interest is 1 or 2.
- The willow's Interest reaches 0 during Aggressive Negotiations.
If any failure condition is reached, Morien's Willow tears its roots from the earth and fractures its branches into makeshift legs. It gains 6 movement at the cost of an early death—maybe in a month.
"Enough! I will find no satisfaction here. Let every home and hovel in my path be splintered until I find my Morien. Obstruct me, and my bannermen shall take root in your cadavers!"
With that, every Oak Attendant and Aspen Attendant on the battlefield gains 5 movement. They attack everyone who tries to harm or restrain Morien's Willow. The willow itself focuses on crossing the south border of the map. If the players allow it to leave, there is no more combat. If they continue to fight, the conditions for victory and loss change.
Escalated Victory Condition
- Morien's Willow dies.
Escalated Loss Condition
- Morien's Willow crosses the south edge of the battlemap.
Willow Tactics
The battlefield features the following enemies:
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Morien's Willow (M).
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Five undead Orc Eyes of Grole (G).
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Two large wolves (W) represented by the Predator A stat block with Size 1M and the Swiftness / Grappler / Pouncer traits.
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A whole lot of Aspen Attendant minions (A) and a few Oak Attendants (O).
In addition, Morien's Effigy (E) is either a river-merchant or an NPC important to the players. They use the Noncombatant stat block and are permanently under the effect of the willow's Sun-Dappled Sympathy ability, which forces them to remain close. The willow can speak through this character's mouth, or through telepathy if they're not available.
Morien's Willow prefers to open the fight by separating the players. It can draw the squishier characters close with Lashing Branch, then use Summon the Firewall! to divide the battlefield. This makes it difficult for melee-characters to get close, and for ranged characters to return to the back. Its burying Rhizome ability puts pressure on the players to keep moving, giving them another thing to think about on their turn. The willow should lament and accuse while it fights, to signal to the players that it can be talked to and might be susceptible to Negotiation.
The Orc Eyes of Grole are responsible of summoning the firewall when the willow calls for it, and it will burn out once they're all dead. They prefer to use the firewalls damage and concealment to protect themselves from less important targets while they focus on those players that threaten the willow the most. The undead are not under the control of the willow, but they died with its anguish on their mind and will act accordingly.
The wolves protect the willow. They prefer grabbing melee heroes to keep them far away from their ward.
The Aspen and Oak Attendants don't have a speed, and thus cannot threaten heroes who stay out of their range. They take no turns if there's nothing for them to do. If a hero does get in range, they attack. Their main function is to deny the south edge of the battlefield. The attendants do get 5 speed if the battle reaches a loss condition, in which case they'll attack any heroes that try to harm or hinder the willow during its escape.
The river that cuts through the arena flows rapidly to the south. Any creature that enters the river or starts their turn there immediately slides 4 in the direction of the current if their Might < 3.
Aggressive Negotiations
As soon as a player tries to appeal to the willow or considers doing so, tell them the following information.
- You can Negotiate with the willow.
- Her Interest is 1 and her Patience is 2.
- Making an argument will use your Main Action.
Combat continues while the negotiation is in progress, as the willow is overcome with rage and its attendants only partially listen to its orders. If someone deals damage to the willow while negotiations are underway, its Patience drops by 1. The willow doesn't attack anyone while its interest is 3 or higher, but the other enemies continue fighting until one of the victory conditions is reached.
Morien's Willow Negotiation Stats
Interest: 1
Patience: 2
Motivation: Protection. The willow wants to protect Morien from the human world, and to save her from the undead curse that Arefled has put on her.
Motivation: Justice. The willow wants things to be put right; to have Morien by its side again.
Pitfall: Vengeance. Though it hates Arefled for what she did to Morien, becomes more enraged if the players promise it revenge. "A hollow victory; it will not get her back!"
Pitfall: Freedom. If the players argue that Morien should be free to travel if she wants, the willow thrashes angrily. "She never wanted that! It's the charcoal-woman that infected her with this vile human wanderlust."
Negotiation Outcomes
Interest 0: The willow uproots itself as described in Confronting the Willow.
Interest 1: The willow fights on, and uproots itself if it reaches 0 Patience.*
Interest 2: If Arefled takes Morien's place, the willow agrees to release Morien's Effigy and capture nobody else while Arefled is alive. The players can either convince Arefled to stay willingly, or drag her under the bower where she will fall under the willow's spell.
Interest 3: The willow agrees to stop capturing people if at least one player swears to bring Morien back before the first snows of winter. That player must wear a shoot from the tree in their hair to make the oath magically binding.
Interest 4: The willow agrees to stop capturing people, but asks the players to tell Morien that it misses her if they ever meet.
Interest 5: The willow agrees to stop capturing people, and realizes that the undead curse on its forest is also hurting people in the village. It commands an Oak Attendant to uproot itself and defend the village from corpsewalkers.
Aftermath
Once the battle with the willow concludes, resolve the story according to the following guidelines.
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Whether Morien's Willow died, left, or made peace, the stain of undeath still clings to the forest. Any creature that dies will come back to wander until it hits civilization. The village comes to be menaced by undead wolves, harts, hercinias, beetles, hares, foxes, owls, fowl, and manticores.
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Knowledgable characters know that the curse can be lifted by slaying Morien, or by summoning the devil to barter for a counter-spell.
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Local innkeeps and rumormongers heard of a wooden woman headed for a major city nearby. If found, Morien is thriving and does not want to return.
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If Arefled took the effigy's place, she will starve within weeks. If the villagers are told where she is, they will organize to keep her alive by bringing food and water daily. This goes well until the first of them is killed by roaming corpsewalkers.
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If the players needed something from Arefled and the Woodcutters, the NPCs will give them what they need once the willow is dead or (temporarily) pacified. This doesn't go through if the relevant NPCs are dead or captured in the effigy's place.
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Any NPCs who learn about the staggering number of lives the willow has already taken will organize a funeral for the remains if the players don't. The NPCs will want to contact the family of the slain, but since they came from far the villagers will not know how to discover those relatives.
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If the willow leaves the encounter to seek Morien, it will begin to ravage nearby villages. The tree pulls the roofs of houses in search of its dryad, while its attendants turn anyone who resists into gore.
Rewards
The players are rewarded depending on their successes.
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If the willow is slain, the players can loot and sell Morien's tapestry. Additionally, a hollow in the tree contains a bottle of Stygian Liquor and the Anjali recipe to make more. These are kept among Morien's other treasures: feathers, river-stones, and shapely sticks.
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If an NPC interested in stopping the tree is still alive and free by the end, they will gift the players a set of Bloodbound Bands.
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If the players stop the undead threat, or if they stop the tree while it is rampaging, the local authorities will take notice. A bishop, manorial lord, landed knight, or other landowner will grant the party the Owed a Favor title.
Woe below the Willow-Tree is an independent product published under the DRAW STEEL Creator License and is not affiliated with MCDM Productions, LLC. DRAW STEEL © 2025 MCDM Productions, LLC.